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Difficulty: MediumEnlightenment Thought and Social Contract Theories

"To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature...

A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another...

But... the enjoyment of the property he has in this state is very unsafe, very unsecure. This makes him willing to quit a condition, which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers: and it is not without reason, that he seeks out, and is willing to join in society with others... for the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties and estates, which I call by the general name, property."
—John Locke, *Second Treatise of Government*, 1689

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following best describes the primary political consequence of the spread of the ideas expressed in the excerpt?

  1. They provided the intellectual justification for challenging absolute monarchies and establishing constitutional governments.Answer
  2. B
    They were used by nineteenth-century socialist reformers to justify the state ownership of industrial factories and the abolition of private property.
  3. C
    They led absolute monarchs to immediately abandon mercantilism in favor of unregulated global free trade.
  4. D
    They inspired leaders of the American and French revolutions to construct identical political structures based on universal suffrage.

Answer

The primary political consequence of the spread of Locke's ideas was that they provided the intellectual justification for challenging absolute monarchies and establishing constitutional governments.
The correct answer is correct because John Locke's ideas regarding natural rights and the consent of the governed directly challenged the divine right of kings, laying the ideological groundwork for the American, French, and Latin American revolutions and the transition toward constitutional governance.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source excerpt.
The author (John Locke) argues that men are naturally free and equal but choose to enter a social contract to protect their 'property' (lives, liberties, and estates).
Understanding the core argument of the stimulus is essential to identifying its downstream political consequences.
2
Evaluate the historical impact of these ideas on political systems.
Locke's formulation of natural rights and the social contract served as the ideological foundation for major transformations in government, notably during the Atlantic revolutions.
This links the intellectual content of the Enlightenment to the physical creation of constitutional governments that challenged absolute rule.
3
Select the correct option and rule out distractors based on historical accuracy.
The option identifying the justification of challenging monarchies and forming constitutional governments is correct. Other options misidentify the timeline of socialist thought, confuse Enlightenment political philosophy with mercantilist policy shifts, or incorrectly assume the American and French revolutions produced identical political structures.
Ensures the selected answer is historically valid and matches the AP World History exam's emphasis on causation and change over time.

Key Concept

Enlightenment Thought and Social Contract Theories
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Topics

Enlightenment Thought and Social Contract Theories

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